I would be very tempted to start with Toomua. Don't get me wrong, I really like Eastmond, but I would go with Matt for the following reasons:
- Whilst he hasn't been in camp it is not as though he will come back rusty. He hasn't been sitting on his backside but playing international rugby (only as a sub so won't be exhausted but his eye will be in). He will be up to speed pretty quick.
- His defence will be very important against the Chiefs. Not only is he a very strong defender but he wins a fair share of turnover and disrupting Chiefs ability to retain the ball for long periods is key. They will be a lot more worried running down our centre channel with Matt there.
- Matt is a more experienced centre. He will better be able to stop Manu jumping out the defence line.
- Whilst he hasn't played with the guys for several weeks he has had a lot more game time outside Ford etc than Kyle.
- I'm not sure but I think Matt has a bigger kick on him. Ford is not the longest so having Matt there to help clear lines could be helpful.
- I think it will be a close game. Being able to bring on Kyle in the closing stages against tired legs might help.

All excellent points, my view is he’s gone for a month after this week and hasn’t been training with the squad so let’s continue building that midfield unit so put him on the bench

Good point but I also think the game is going to be very physical. If we are going to lose Matt shortly why risk breaking Kyle?